BARRHEAD - If everything goes according to plan, the County of Barrhead will reopen the Thunder Lake wastewater lagoon sometime in early July.
That is what County of Barrhead public works manager Travis Wierenga told councillors during their June 18 meeting.
The municipality closed the facility in early April due to capacity issues.
Later that month, on April 17, the municipality met with Alberta Environment and Protected Areas officials during an on-site tour.
Shortly after, the province approved the release, which began on May 29.
"The discharge is still ongoing," he said. "We are monitoring the levels in the lagoon and the discharge area [which is provincial Crown land], ensuring that we are meeting the conditions by Alberta Environment."
Wierenga said the process is going well and expects it to be complete within two to three weeks, with the lagoon reopening in the first or second week of July.
"[The process] has to be done very slowly, and things are not pumping too much volume at a time, allowing things to sit and dissipate so they do end up pooling," he said.
As for the lagoon in Dunstable, Wierenga said public works closed the facility on June 7 after it reached its 3,236 cubic metre limit.
Coun. Walter Preugschas said he thought the municipality, unlike the Thunder Lake lagoon, could undergo an emergency release without provincial approval.
"It is not an emergency release if we have to keep doing it. It is a regular occurrence," Wierenga replied.
Over the last 20 years, the lagoon has reached or exceeded its capacity limits several times and was closed for extended periods in 2007 and 2011. The most recent closure, prior to June, was in 2021 when it was closed for several months from May to early October.
However, he said there will always be capacity issues as the facility is an evaporation cell due to the sheer volume of wastewater being dumped at the site.
Wierenga also noted that a recent study the county commissioned two years ago found that the Dunstable lagoon's capacity was slightly compromised by sludge, estimating that roughly 15 per cent of its capacity was taken by the material. The same study showed that the Thunder Lake lagoon's capacity was down about 30 per cent because of sludge.
Water reservoir levels
Wierenga said public works have also closely monitored the water reservoir levels in Neerlandia and Manola.
He added that at this time of year, demand for water from the reservoir levels is usually high due to the needs of agricultural producers due to their spraying needs.
"There were a couple of days where the levels were quite low," Wierenga said, adding they do not like to see the water level drop below 30 per cent. "At the end of the day, the reservoirs are there to serve the hamlets and the businesses there, not necessarily just for agriculture, and we cannot have them run us out of water."
Fortunately, due to the recent rain, the municipality did not have to close the Manola truck-fill station or ask the Neerlandia Co-op to do the same.
Preugschas asked if coming so close to reaching the minimum level meant the municipality would have to consider expanding its reservoir capacity soon.
"That's been discussed a few times," Wierenga said. "The challenge is that the issue is seasonal, and the extra demand usually only lasts a few weeks. Do you expand your capacity by installing additional tanks that need to be maintained and likely drained when they are not in use? You do not want to have stagnant water in them."
